Agitator



J. E. BOND April 19, 1932.

AGITATOR Filed April 8, 1929 Arl M Ali Patented Apr. 19, 1932 UNITEDSTATES JOSEPH E. BOND, OF .APPLETON, WISCONSIN AGIT'ATOR Applicationfiled April S, 1929. Serial No. 353,565.

My invention relates to the art of paper making and particularly tomeans for agitating paper pulp.

In the development of the art it has been l Jfound possible to greatlyincrease the capacity of a given equipment by increasing the density(or, in other words, lessening the fluidity) of the pulp during itstreatment preceding delivery to the Fourdriniers. While in the oldpractice a 21/2% pulp was considered proper and of the maximum densitypossible, it is now common to deal with 6% solutions, withcorrespondingly increased production capacity. v

However, many difficult problems are en countered in handling` pulp ofthis vdensity due to its lack of fluidity and its tendency to mass orcake in the storage or treatment tanks and containers; This tendency isinherent in the nature cf the material under treatment due to itsfibrous character and to the physical law of attraction of solids. Theliquid within which the solids are carried serv-es merely asa'supporting medium therefor and facilitates rather than hinders themassing and intertwining of the fibers.

To avoid massing and stratifying of the pulp in the liquid and tomaintain a uniform density throughoutthe entire body of material, itmust be kept in motion and the motion producing means should have atendency to reak up and tear apart any large or small masses of pulp. Inthe old practice the miie ture was kept in motion by means of paddles Vor impellers in the tank, but this apparatus had very little tendency tobreak up masses of pulp, and was wholly ineffective with stock ofincreased density. Furthermore, such apparatus required an outlay ofpower not ccmmensurate with the results secured.

The tanks, chests or containers which are in place and must be utilizedfor the new plan of operation are of many and varied forms, all of greatsize, some narrow and of great length, some deep and some round. Theproblem has been, therefore, to provide means applicable to thesevarious forms of tanks that would insure effective circulation, thebreaking up of pulp masses and the maintainance at all times of a properconsistency throughout the whole volume of material, with a minimum ofpower expenditure.

My invention embodies also the combination with a novel pulp agitatingmeans vertically disposed and located entirely within the walls of thechest. By locating the agitating means entirely Within the chest,consi-dera'ble expense is saved in the construction of the chest. Alsodue to this fact, any number of variations in the agitator may beeffected without the necessity of any alteration in the design of thetank. The agitator is constructed especially with a view t0 simple andready inspection and replacement of bearings, the motor and impellerbeing disposed vertically rather than horizontally as has been thepractice.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying .drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an agitator conn structedin accordance with myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

' Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the agitating pump.

In the drawings, I have illustrated a tank or container of generallyrectangular form, having side walls 10, a floor 11 and end walls 12, 13which may be formed of concrete or other water impervious material.Large fillets are provided at the junction of the side walls and floorin order to facilitate the circulation of the mass.

Extending longitudinally of the tank Vin the center thereof is adivision wall 14 dividing the tank into two compartments 15, 16. Thewall terminates short of the end wall 13 of the tank and at the point oftermination is laterally projected as at 17, 18 to provide a baille.'The floor in the discharge compartment 15 is constructed to slope downtoward the end wall 13, and the floor in the compartment 16 isconstructed to slope down from the end wall 13 toward the end wall 12,thus insuring a. movement of the stock at all times by gravity.

At one end of the tank is the well disposed vertically in one of the twochambers of the chest. The pumping unit comprises the m0-- tor 19resting on the pedestal 20, casing pipe or well 21, suction pipe 22,hanger pipe 23 having the hand-holes 24, 25 and covers 26, 27. Thevertical shaft 28 secured to the coupling 29 extends through the thrustbearing 30 to the bottom of the casing where it is connected to theimpeller 31. The lower eX- tremity of the hanger pipe 23 is providedwith a stuffing boX 32 to prevent drawing any foreign matter inside thehanger pipe.

At suitable points in the length of the well, I provide the verticallysplit Babbitt bearings 33, 34 within the bearing casings 35, 36. Thebearing casing 35 is supported in the machined joints 37 in the hangerpipe. The oil pipe 38 extending from the top of the well provideslubrication for the bearings 33, 34.

Thus it is seen that I have constructed a .pump which it is very easy tokeep in repair. If desired to replace Babbitt bearings, the covers 26,27 may be removed from the handholes 24, 25 and the split bearings mayeasily be grasped and removed. If the bearing casing needs repair, thetop Hanged section of the hanger pipe may be simply lifted off the lowersection.

As best shown in Fig. 2 the well is so constructed that the suction pipe22 is below the bottom lever of the chest. The stock is drawn upwards bythe impeller 31 and discharged through the discharge pipe 39 whichextends through the division wall 14 to any desired point in theopposite chamber of the chest. If for the purposes of better circulationof stock it is desired to discharge the stock at a certain angle, ornear the opposite end, elbows may readily be secured to the dischargepipe 39. To facilitate delivery of stock I provide the discharge pipe40.

From the above description of my inven tion, it will be readily seenthat I have provided a chest for agitating paper stock in which there`is a perfect, constant movement of the stock insuring properconsistency and preventing stratification by means of a novel well whichis easy to maintain, and cheap to install.

Obviously modifications and variations may be made in the structure anddesign of the invention here disclosed, and I do not wish vto belimitedexcept as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In combination, a tank, a division wall extending longitudinally fromone end of the .tank and .terminating short of the other end thereof,means providing a well vertically disposed within the well, an impellerconnected to the shaft and mounted at the lower end of the wel-l, meansproviding a discharge outlet at a point near the upper end of the well,and driving means connected to thefshaft above rthe liquid level of thetank.

2. In combination, a tank, a division wall z extending llongitudinallyfrom one end of the tank and terminating short of the other end thereof,means providing a well vertically disposed within the well, an impellerconnected to the shaft and mounted at the lower end of the well, meansproviding a discharge outlet at a point near the upper end of the well,said discharge outlet being disposed into the side of the tank oppositefrom the side in which the well is located, and driving means connectedto the shaft above the liquid level of the tank.

3. The combination, with walls forming a tank, of a division wallextending longitudinally and substantially along the center of the spacewithin the tank and terminating short of the end thereof in a lateralprojection, a vertically disposed well located within said tank at oneend thereof, said well having an inlet near the floor at one side ofsaid division wall, and a discharge pipe near the top of said well andprojecting into the space at the opposite side of the said divisionwall, said discharge pipe terminating at a higher level than said inlet.

4. In combination, a tank having a wall dividing the space therein intotwo compartf ments in open communication at one end only of the tank, avertically disposed well with.- in said tank and at one end thereof,means providing an inlet at the lower level of a compartment at the endof the tank opposite to that end at which there is communication betweencompartments, and means providing a discharge into the oppositecompartment at a different level than that of the inlet.

5. In combination, a tank having a wall dividing the space therein intotwo compartments in open communication at one end only of the tank, avertically disposed well at one end of said tank, means at the end ofthe tank opposite to that end at which there is communication betweencompartments providing an inlet at the lower level of one compartmentand a discharge pipe projected through the dividing wall and adapted toT discharge into the adjacent compartment of said tank, said well beinglocated entirely within said tank.

6. In combination, a tank having a division wall, a pulp circulatingunit mounted in the tank, said unit having an inlet at a low point insaid tank at one side of said wall and an outlet at a high point in thetank on the opposite side of said division wall, said unit consisting ofa vertically disposed pipe, an

im-peller at the lower end thereof. a motor rested on the upper end ofthe pipe above the level of the tank and a vertical shaft directlyconnecting the motor and impeller.

In testimony whereof I have aiiXed my i signature.

JOSEPH E. BOND.

